THE efforts that sparked the rise of the Philippine men’s football team finally bore fruit on Thursday when the Azkals recorded a new all-time high in world ranking.
Only two months after moving to 141st, the Azkals continued their rise to relevance as they rose four notches at 137th to become the top squad in Southeast Asia.
The rankings take into consideration the results in the last three years where the Azkals started to make their mark.
“This is another milestone,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami, the man behind the Azkals' emergence.
The Azkals edged out Thailand, which dropped four places at 143rd, second place in the region. Myanmar rounded out the Top 3 at 149th.
The development comes only two days after the Azkals retained the Philippine Peace Cup title over Pakistan and Chinese Taipei at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.
Spain remained the benchmark squad in the world, followed by Germany, and Argentina, while Japan is No. 1 in Asia at 44th overall in the world
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph